


Carrying it forward

by Beleriandings



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Bittersweet, Gen, Hakuryuu village feels, Kija and Jae-ha have another culture clash moment, after the Zeno reveal, dealing with short dragon lifespans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 23:41:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9521228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beleriandings/pseuds/Beleriandings
Summary: Prompt: Kija + "how far can you carry this?"





	

“What’s taking Yoon so long?” muttered Hak, kicking his heels in the dust beside the herbalist’s stall where Yoon seemed to be engaged in a fervent discussion, while Kija, Shin-ah, and Jae-ha browsed the bunches of herbs and tiny bottles and jars and phials that lined the wooden rack.  

“The Lad likes to haggle down the prices” said Zeno, smiling.

“Yes” said Yona. “And he’s good at it, too! Did you know he managed to get that man selling thread yesterday down to a third of the price? Besides, we’re not in any hurry, are we?”

“No” said Hak, though he glanced around in some concern, even so.  

“The Miss is right” said Zeno. “Besides, the others look like they’re having fun!” They all watched as he pointed at a little bottle on the rack with a sidelong smile and said something quiet that made Kija yelp in protest and Shin-ah tilt his head in curiosity. Zeno prodded Jae-ha’s elbow with a finger. “What’s Ryokuryuu got there, hmm?”

“Nothing! Put that back right now Jae-ha!” squeaked Kija.

Jae-ha just smiled guilelessly. “An aphrodisiac, it would seem” he said. “Kija seems to think that we shouldn’t buy it, but I was just suggesting that maybe certain people amongst us…” he glanced knowingly at Yona and Hak, “might benefit from - ”

“Nope. We are not having a repeat of the incident with the Hakuryuu scale” snapped Yoon, turning around and snatching the tiny bottle from out of Jae-ha’s hands. “Haven’t any of you beasts learned anything?”

“It was you that acquired it in the first place!” protested Jae-ha.

“Yes, and after that I’m certainly never going to get something like that again! That was far too much of a pain and a bother.”

“Yoon, you never touched it though, unlike some of us” said Jae-ha, smiling sweetly as he watched Kija’s face turn red. “What an experience… who would have known that the scales of Hakuryuu had such power over heart and soul?”

“Stop calling that potion a Hakuryuu scale! I didn’t ask to have anything to do with any of this” muttered Kija, folding his arms across his chest.

“Yes, Jae-ha, stop teasing Kija” said Yona, making Kija turn even more brilliantly red.

Jae-ha gave a dramatic sigh. “Ah, of course, Yona dear, if you ask it of me. Still, it’s a terrible shame” he said. “I would have loved to have seen what - if any - effect such a thing would have on this strange one here.” He indicated Zeno. “Purely out of curiosity of course.”

“Zeno, watch your food and drink” said Hak. “Don’t trust a single thing this pervert gives you.”

“Ah, Zeno doesn’t need a potion to be in love!” said Zeno. “Zeno loves all of you, all of you!” with that, he pulled them all into a hug as best he could, causing Kija to exclaim in surprise and Hak to cough as a startled Shin-ah’s fur went in his face.

At this, the stallholder turned around, looking on them disapprovingly. “If you’re not going to buy it, put that back and move along” he said.

“We’re sorry” said Yona, taking the little bottle back from Yoon and putting it back with the others. “We’ll be off now, if Yoon’s finished buying medicines.”

Yoon nodded. They were just about to move off, when the stallholder’s wife - a round-faced, pink-cheeked woman of middle age, with a bright scarf tied about her hair - appeared at his side. “Darling, don’t scare off the sweet boy and his family like that!” she scolded her husband. “Come, come dears, browse all you like. We’ve got all the remedies you could ever need here. If it’s not love potions you’re after… and I should say the likes of you fine young ones would never need them to get the person they like…” she blushed a little, making her husband scowl, “then how about this? A medicine to heal a broken heart…”

“I should say fine sake is the best for that” said Jae-ha flatly.

“Or a tincture to free the mind, make the one who takes it see wondrous visions…”

“We don’t want anything like that” said Yoon firmly, pushing the woman’s hand away before Jae-ha or any of the others could answer.

“Alright, alright” said the woman, raising her hands. “No need for that. Powders and paints for the pretty girl then? Or… I know! What about this?” She pulled a bottle from the shelf. “An infusion to keep the skin young.” She smiled knowingly. “You won’t be so youthful forever, you know! When you’re old and wrinkly like me, you’ll wish you had this.”

“Oh, no, you’re not old and wrinkly!” protested Kija, politely.

“He’s right” said Jae-ha. “You’ve got many years of beauty left ahead of you!”

“Because I use this!” she said, smiling and holding out the bottle. “It really does work miracles on your skin.” She placed the bottle in Jae-ha’s hands, peering up to inspect his hair, parting the hair that fell over his face with her fingers and looking critically. “Mark my words, the moment you find a grey hair, you’ll be wishing for it!”

Jae-ha froze and flinched back too suddenly at her words and the close scrutiny, his hands suddenly tense on the bottle. He ran his fingers through the front of his hair uneasily for a moment, before passing the bottle to Zeno even as his composure returned a little. There was even the ghost of his carefree smile, the moment passing almost - but not quite - as though it had never been. “Ah… what about you, eh Zeno? I feel you would get the most use of such a potion.” He looked as though he were struggling to maintain the light humour of moments ago. “As our very own favourite old man.”

There was a short, slightly tense silence.

“Ah! That’s funny!” said the woman, laughing in slight confusion. “Because he’s the youngest of you. I see! Still, once you start getting into your forties, you’ll all want something like this. It’s only natural.”

“Maybe you should get some, Droopy Eyes” said Hak hastily, grinning and nudging Jae-ha’s ankle gently with the butt of his spear. “After all, you’re the oldest of us. Have you checked for grey hairs lately?”

“Hak, that’s mean!” said Yona with a pout. “Jae-ha’s still young. Besides” she smiled brilliantly. “Grey hair isn’t so bad. Captain Gigan has grey hair and she is still as strong and brave and beautiful as ever, right Jae-ha? I don’t really mind the idea of ageing so much, after I met her. Besides, we’ll all be ageing together won’t we?” She gave Zeno a quick look, before a look of slight horror crossed her face, and she clapped her hands to her mouth. She darted a look around the group, seeing the tears at the corners of Yoon’s eyes. “Ah… all I meant was that… it will be interesting to see where we all are in ten… twenty… thirty years! More, even.” she seemed to recover a little, smiling sadly and taking Zeno’s hand in hers, giving it a soft squeeze. “Because I’m not planning on leaving any of you behind as long as I live, not unless you want to leave.”

No one said anything for a long while. Jae-ha’s face seemed frozen, while Kija’s was set, determined. Shin-ah’s mouth had turned down at the corner under his mask, just a little, and there was a subtle tension in the way he held himself. Hak looked a little perplexed. Yoon looked as though he was fighting back tears.

Suddenly Zeno wished all over again that they had been able to spare Yoon the knowledge of the dragons’ lifespans. _It’s not the Lad’s fault_ , he thought. _Not his fault that Hakuryuu, Ryokuryuu and Seiryuu will die so young. Not his fault that Ouryuu must live as long as the world lives. He shouldn’t have to carry that upon his shoulders too, as he carries so much else._ Zeno’s hand had been forced, in revealing his own secrets, but he was glad nonetheless that Hak and the Princess had been spared the knowledge of the short lives the other dragons led, so far at least.

Zeno frowned, looking from Yona back to the stallholders. “Ah! The Lady is sweet and gracious, but what the Miss means is that there’s no need to sell this potion to us… keep it for one who might have more need of it!” He tilted his head. “Zeno is just seventeen, after all, just a baby chick, really, and the others are still young too. Besides, none of us need such things, not even the eldest of us.”

“And if we do… Kija…. has the small bottles” said Shin-ah, catching them all by surprise. He held up four fingers. “Four…. of those.”

“…What?”

“The small bottles.” Shin-ah suddenly twitched, glancing between all the faces staring at him in confusion. “Should I…. not have looked? I’m…. sorry, Kija…”

Zeno touched Shin-ah’s elbow comfortingly. “What he means, is this one’s luggage is full enough with a youth tonic for his skin that his kind grandmother made him, with love and care!”

“It’s true” said Kija, with a small smile.

“Hmm?” gasped Jae-ha, with mock shock. “And here I was thinking that flawless skin came as naturally to you as breathing.” Again, that subtle tension to his stance. Zeno knew what he was thinking, for it was what they were all thinking; the lives of the dragon warriors were not long enough to worry about the effects of old age.  

Kija smiled again, looking down at his hands modestly. “Well. I’ve never used it, that’s true. But…. I do carry it with me.”

The woman tutted, but she also smiled. “Ah, of course. The love of the ones in your family always is the best medicine, and I say that as a herbalist.” She winked, then bowed at them. “It’s been a pleasure, and good fortune on your journey.”

As they walked from the stall, Jae-ha was uncharacteristically quiet, Zeno could help but notice. In truth, apart from Yona and Hak - who seemed to notice nothing of this, engaged as they were in an argument about Yona’s sword practice - they were all subdued, all apparently lost in their own thoughts.  

“You’ve been carrying that around all this time, Kija?” blurted out Yoon, at last, when Hak and the Princess drifted ahead, out of earshot. “All of the things your Granny gave you when we left your village?”

“Certainly!” said Kija, looking slightly taken aback. He blushed a little. “Well…. I did have to decline the offer of one of my Granny’s beautiful young litter bearers to escort me but - ”  

Jae-ha choked on a breath. “Wait… _what_ offer did you say you declined?”

“ - But most everything else my Granny gave me to bring along… yes, I still have most of it. Why ever should I not?”

Yoon kicked a stone as he walked, staring at his feet. “You’re going to break your back carrying so much.”

“Excuse me? Did I miss something?” asked Jae-ha, peering curiously at Kija’s pack. He prodded it with a finger, lifting it a little from Kija’s back; his eyes widened at the weight. “ _Oh_. What have you _got_ in there, Kija? Did your Granny give you a commemorative collection of rocks to bring with you on your travels?”

“Silly Jae-ha, of course not!” said Kija, undeterred. “Just a few things I might need, as befits a dragon warrior accompanying his King Hiryuu at long last. First, there’s the formal seal of the village of Hakuryuu. It’s made of solid gold, so it’s quite heavy, but I could never travel without it! It simply wouldn’t be fitting!”

“Debatable” mumbled Jae-ha, as Shin-ah stared down at the ground.

“Then there are my clothes, five sets for everyday wear” - Kija smoothed his white robes proudly - “a fur-trimmed cloak and hat for cold weather, snow boots, three sets of sleep robes, and of course the traditional headdress and jewels for the New Year’s festival.” He tilted his head to the side. “I know you ran away, but… did your village have no similar tradition?”

“…..I can’t say it did. But…. you’ve been carrying all that on your back, all this time?”

“Well,” said Kija, “not just that, of course! There’s also the supply of bandages and of medicinal herbs, though those are running low lately as I’ve been giving them to Yoon - ”

“Those actually _have_ been useful, with the number of times you beasts have managed to get yourselves injured” muttered Yoon, sighing resignedly.

“- and four bottles of Granny’s famous tonic for the skin, as Shin-ah said. It’s been used by five Hakuryuu generations now. She brews it once a year, before the New Year’s festival, and each batch she makes is an improvement on the year before!”

Jae-ha was staring at him, looking a little disturbed. “Hakuryuu village is even stranger than I had thought.” His voice was quiet, so soft that Zeno had to strain to hear, and he stared at the ground as they walked, as though talking more to himself than they others. But once again, there was that tension in his shoulders, his hands clenched in fists. “Do they think that is…. kind? Gifting the dragons a tonic for long life, when everyone knows full well they will never reach their forties?”

Yoon winced at that, and Zeno took his elbow, hoping his touch would impart wordless comfort. Even as he did so, Shin-ah did the same on Yoon’s other side, going tense himself. Jae-ha seemed to notce, for his shoulders slumped a little, his face aggrieved. “Ah… perhaps this isn’t…”

But even as he tailed off, Kija interrupted him, his face open and almost wistful as he stared into the sky above. “No, it’s not like that” he said. “It’s not like that at all.” He smiled, gently, looking back at the rest of them. “It’s a blessing. We _know_ that it won’t be needed, I suppose, but…” he spread his hands out before him, bright scales catching the light. “But receiving it… ” he shrugged, still smiling. “I received it for the first time on my fifteenth birthday, and do you know what I felt? I felt the past generations smiling down on me, through the village’s traditions, through my Granny’s love for me. I felt that I could live to see the King come. I felt _hope_. And for that reason… I will carry the gifts of my village with me wherever I go, as long as I serve the Princess.” He flexed his dragon’s claws, meeting each of their gazes, one by one. “And that’s why they really aren’t so heavy, at all.”


End file.
